• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2014

In the case of the direct measurement of $^{226}Ra$ using a HPGe gamma-ray spectrometer, the interference between gammarays with 186.21 keV of $^{226}Ra$ and 185.7 keV of $^{235}U$ should be corrected to calculate the net peak area in the energy spectrum. In general, it is very difficult to conduct peaks stripping with difference of about 0.5 keV, although a HPGe with the superior resolution is applied and the maximum channels is applied to the spectrometer. In this study, several interference correction techniques in the direct measurement were surveyed to evaluate the feasibility for the measurement of $^{226}Ra$ using the gamma-ray spectrometery. Applying the interference corrections to the analysis of raw materials and by-products, the method validation for the direct measurement of $^{226}Ra$ was conducted by evaluating the measurement uncertainty, linearity, and range. As a result, the optimum method of the interference correction was selected by comparing with the indirect measurement of which progenies of $^{226}Ra$, such as $^{214}Pb$ and $^{214}Bi$, were analyzed in the secular equilibrium state.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2024

This study investigated the fish fauna of Jeonjucheon and Samcheon Streams, flowing through the city of Jeonju, through surveys conducted at 10 sampling sites using kick net and cast net. The fish fauna collected included 10 families and 36 species, with a total of 2,064 individuals. Samcheon had 8 families and 30 species with 1,074 individuals, Jeonjucheon had 8 families and 26 species with 986 individuals. The dominant species was Zacco platypus with 1,202 individuals, and a total of 153 individuals of the subdominant were Pseudogobio esocinus. In Jeonjucheon Stream, a total of 567 individuals of the dominant species were collected as Z. platypus and 99 individuals of the subdominant species were collected as Pungtungia herzi, and there was no significant change in the stream environment except for the confluence site. Further expanded research covering the entire Jeonjucheon and Samcheon Streams region, accompanied by regular monitoring, is essential to record and understand fluctuations in fish fauna.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1297-1303
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• 2020

In this study, nuclear radiation shielding and rigidity parameters of Y (0.1-x)B0.6Bi1.8O3La2x glassy system were investigated in order to determine it's suitability for use as nuclear radiation shielding materials. Therefore, a group of bismuth borate glass samples with La₂O₃ additive were synthesized using the technique of melt quenching. According to the results, the increase of the La₂O₃ additive increases the density of the glass samples and the mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m) values, whereas the half-value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) values decrease. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) is also enhanced with an increment of both mass removal cross section for neutron (Σ_R) and absorption neutron scattering cross section (σ_abs). In addition to the other parameters, rigidity parameter values were theoretically examined. The increase of La₂O₃ causes some other important magnitudes to increase. These are the average crosslink density, the number of bonds per unit volume, as well as the stretching force constant values of these glass samples. These results are in concordance with the increase of elastic moduli in terms of the Makishima-Mackenzie model. This model showed an increase in the rigidity of the glass samples as a function of La₂O₃.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2013

The fish fauna of Munsom in Jeju-do, Korea, was investigated for a total of five times underwater from April 2009 to October 2010. Fish specimens were collected with a small net by SCUBA diving and fish specimens difficult to collect were photographed underwater using a underwater camera and a camcorder. The fish specimens collected from the sea around Munsom were identified as 91 species, belonging to 73 genera, 39 families, and 11 orders. Among them, the largest group was Order Perciformes, comprising 54 species and 21 families, consisting 59.3% in total number of species and the following 19 species of Order Scorpaeniformes was 20.8%. In this study Amblyeleotris sp. of family Gobiidae was discovered as new species by underwater photography in Korea. It was more the demersal fishes (55%) than the pelagic fishes (45%) and in social behavior pattern it was much more species swimming alone than schooling.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.957-962
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• 2018

The gamma radiation shielding capability (GRSC) of two clay-materials (Ball clay and Kaolin)of Southwestern Nigeria ($7.49^{\circ}N$, $4.55^{\circ}E$) have been investigated by determine theoretically and experimentally the mass attenuation coefficient, ${\mu}/{\rho}(cm^2g^{-1})$ of the clay materials at photon energies of 609.31, 1120.29, 1173.20, 1238.11, 1332.50 and 1764.49 keV emitted from $^{214}Bi$ ore and $^{60}Co$ point source. The mass attenuation coefficients were theoretically evaluated using the elemental compositions of the clay-materials obtained by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) elemental analysis technique as input data for WinXCom software. While gamma ray transmission experiment using Hyper Pure Germanium (HPGe) spectrometer detector to experimentally determine the mass attenuation coefficients, ${\mu}/{\rho}(cm^2g^{-1})$ of the samples. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations of WinXCom software. Linear attenuation coefficient (${\mu}$), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) were also evaluated using the obtained ${\mu}/{\rho}$ values for the investigated samples. The GRSC of the selected clay-materials have been compared with other studied shielding materials. The cognizance of various factors such as availability, thermo-chemical stability and water retaining ability by the clay-samples can be analyzed for efficacy of the material for their GRSC.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1373-1380
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• 2019

Besides promising implications as fertile nuclear materials, thorium carbonitrides are of great interest owing to their peculiar physical and chemical properties, such as high density, high melting point, good thermal conductivity. This paper reports first-principles simulation results on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of cubic thorium carbonitrides $ThC_xN_{(1-x)}$ (X = 0.03125, 0.0625, 0.09375, 0.125, 0.15625) employing formalism of density-functional-theory. For the simulation of physical properties, we incorporated full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FPLAPW) method while the exchange-correlation potential terms in Kohn-Sham Equation (KSE) are treated within Generalized-Gradient-Approximation (GGA) in conjunction with Perdew-Bruke-Ernzerhof (PBE) correction. The structural parameters were calculated by fitting total energy into the Murnaghan's equation of state. The lattice constants, bulk moduli, total energy, electronic band structure and spin magnetic moments of the compounds show dependence on the C/N concentration ratio. The electronic and magnetic properties have revealed non-magnetic but metallic character of the compounds. The main contribution to density of states at the Fermi level stems from the comparable spectral intensity of Th (6d+5f) and (C+N) 2p states. In comparison with spin magnetic moments of ThSb and ThBi calculated earlier with LDA+U approach, we observed an enhancement in the spin magnetic moments after carbon-doping into ThN monopnictide.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.423-429
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• 2021

The investigation of the utilization of enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as a coolant to enhance the performance of a long-life fast reactor with a Modified CANDLE (Constant Axial shape of Neutron flux, nuclide densities, and power shape During Life of Energy production) burnup scheme has performed. The analyzes were performed on a reactor with thermal power of 800 MegaWatt Thermal (MWTh) with a refueling process every 15 years. Uranium Nitride (enriched ¹⁵N), ²⁰⁸Pb, and High-Cr martensitic steel HT-9 were employed as fuel, coolant, and cladding materials, respectively. One of the Pb-nat isotopes, ²⁰⁸Pb, has the smallest neutron capture cross-section (0.23 mb) among other liquid metal coolants. Furthermore, the neutron-producing cross-section (n, 2n) of ²⁰⁸Pb is larger than sodium (Na). On the other hand, the inelastic scattering energy threshold of ²⁰⁸Pb is the highest among Na, ^natPb, and Bi. The small inelastic scattering cross-section of ²⁰⁸Pb can harden the neutron energy spectrum. Therefore, ²⁰⁸Pb is a better neutron multiplier than any other liquid metal coolant. The excess neutrons cause more production than consumption of ²³⁹Pu. Hence, it can reduce the initial fuel loading of the reactor. The selective photoreaction process was developing to obtain enriched ²⁰⁸Pb. The neutronic was calculated using SRAC and JENDL 4.0 as a nuclear data library. We obtained that the modified CANDLE reactor with enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as coolant and reflector has the highest k-eff among all reactors. Meanwhile, the ^natPb cooled reactor has the lowest k-eff. Thus, the utilization of the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as the coolant can reduce reactor initial fuel loading. Moreover, the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb-cooled reactor has the smallest power peaking factor among all reactors. Therefore, the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb can enhance the performance of a long-life Modified CANDLE fast reactor.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.189-203
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• 2020

Purpose - This study aims in analyzing the dynamic relationship between household loans and housing prices according to the characteristics of depository institutions after the financial crisis, identifying the recent trends between them, and making policy suggestions for stabilizing house prices. Design/methodology/approach - The monthly data used in this study are household loans, household loan interest rates, and housing prices ranging from January 2012 to May 2020, and came from ECOS of the Bank of Korea and Liiv-on of Kookmin Bank. This study used vector auto-regression, generalized impulse response function, and forecast error variance decomposition with the data so as to yield analysis results. Findings - The analysis of this study no more shows that the household loan interest rates in both deposit banks and non-bank deposit institutions had statistically significant effects on housing prices. Also, unlike the previous studies, there was statistically significant bi-directional causality between housing prices and household loans in neither deposit banks nor non-bank deposit institutions. Rather, it was found that there is a unidirectional causality from housing prices to household loans in deposit banks, which is considered that housing prices have one-sided effects on household loans due to the overheated housing market after the financial crisis. Research implications or Originality - As a result, Korea's housing market is closely related to deposit banks, and housing prices are acting as more dominant information variables than interest rates or loans under the long-term low interest rate trend. Therefore, in order to stabilize housing prices, the housing supply must be continuously made so that everyone can enjoy housing services equally. In addition, the expansion and reinforcement of the social security net should be realized systematically so as to stop households from being troubled with the housing price decline.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3361-3379
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• 2022

A nuclear power plant (NPP) piping is designed against low-frequency earthquakes. However, earthquakes that can occur at NPP sites in the eastern part of the United States, northern Europe, and Korea are high-frequency earthquakes. Therefore, this study conducts bi-directional shaking table tests on actual-scale NPP piping and studies the response characteristics of low- and high-frequency earthquake motions. Such response characteristics are analyzed by comparing several responses that occur in the piping. Also, based on the test results, a piping numerical analysis model is developed and validated. The piping seismic performance under high-frequency earthquakes is derived. Consequently, the high-frequency excitation caused a large amplification in the measured peak acceleration responses compared to the low-frequency excitation. Conversely, concerning relative displacements, strains, and normal stresses, low-frequency excitation responses were larger than high-frequency excitation responses. Main peak relative displacements and peak normal stresses were 60%-69% and 24%-49% smaller in the high-frequency earthquake response than the low-frequency earthquake response. This phenomenon was noticeable when the earthquake motion intensity was large. The piping numerical model simulated the main natural frequencies and relative displacement responses well. Finally, for the stress limit state, the seismic performance for high-frequency earthquakes was about 2.7 times greater than for low-frequency earthquakes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4708-4714
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• 2022

The novelty in the present search, the Soda-Lime-Silica (SLS) glass waste to prepare free lead glass shielding was used in order to limit the accumulation of glass waste, which requires extensive time to decompose. This also saves on the consumption of pure SiO₂, which is a finite resource. Furthermore, the combining of BaO with Bi₂O₃ into a glass network leads to increased optical properties and improved attenuation. The UV-Visible Spectrophotometer was used to investigate the optical properties and the radiation shielding properties were reported for current glass samples utilizing the PhysX/PDS online software. The optical property results indicate that when BaO content increases in glass structure, the Urbach energy ΔE, and refractive index n increases while the energy optical band gap E_opt decreases. The result of the metallisation criteria (M) revealed that the present glass samples are nonmetallic (insulators). Furthermore, the radiation shielding parameter findings suggest that when BaO was increased in the glass structure, the linear attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number (Z_eff) rose. But the half-value layer HVL declined as the BaO concentration grew. According to the research, the glass samples are non-toxic, transparent to visible light, and efficient radiation shielding materials. The Ba5 sample is considered the best among all the samples due to its higher attenuation value and lower HVL and MFP values, which make it a suitable candidate as transparent glass shield shielding.